34th St Between 8th Ave and 7th Ave

Steps away from the massive, curved exterior of Madison Sqaure Garden this part of 34th St is home to both unrelenting commerce, and unimaginable crap. The southern half of the street has the NYC staples of Duane Reade, the subway, LIRR, and an office tower; while the northern side is home to store after store selling clothes, jewelry and shoes. These (assumedly) mom & pop operations seem to have their days numbered, though, as many of them were announcing "Going Out Of Business" in their windows.

However, for each local business going under, there seems to be some crummy chain taking it's place (Payless, TGI-Friday's) – so I wouldn't worry about the area's vibe changing too much in the coming years.

You don't quite get the tourist-y rush here – it's about one block too far for them, with Macy's residing between 6th and 7th – but there's still a pretty sizable crush of people making their way on the sidewalk. The street vendors, construction canopies, newstands and massive planters don't help either.